(Media availability: On Wednesday, March 12, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., experts from DHS, OLCC and Oregon Partnership will be at West Slope Liquors, 8765 SW Canyon Lane, Portland, to talk with reporters about the "Face It, Parents" campaign. Visuals will include awareness campaign materials against a backdrop of liquor bottles. Store phone number: 503-297-5118 )

A campaign to warn adults about the perils of underage drinking is going directly to consumers at state liquor stores, with posters and tip cards from the "Face It, Parents" program.

The educational material is being placed at check-out counters in 20 liquor stores (see list below) in a joint prevention effort by Oregon Partnership, the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) Addictions and Mental Health Division and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

"Teenagers tell us in surveys that they're getting much of their alcohol at home," said Bob Nikkel, DHS assistant director for addictions and mental health. "This campaign helps remind parents of that so they can do something about it."

The "Face It, Parents" posters center on how alcohol use can harm the developing adolescent brain. Research shows that children who start drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to have alcohol-related problems when they become adults.

And more young people are turning to distilled spirits, said Karen Wheeler, DHS addictions policy and program development manager.

"It's a startling new trend that our kids now prefer hard liquor over beer as their drink of choice," she said. "Kids often get their alcohol from home. Parents should tell their children that underage drinking is not permitted in their home or elsewhere."

Parents need to control alcohol in their home and talk to their children about house rules against underage drinking, Wheeler said.

The most recent DHS Oregon Healthy Teens Survey shows that about a third of 8th graders and about half of 11th graders have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. And 31 percent of 8th grade drinkers and 37 percent of 11th grade drinkers prefer distilled spirits, the survey indicated.

Here are the topics on the "Face It, Parents" tip cards:

Remember that you are the biggest influence in your children's lives;

Don't think "it's not my child";

Establish explicit rules and consequences;

Youth alcohol use is not a rite of passage;

Don't allow youth drinking in your home; and

Be a positive role model.

The free materials are available from Oregon Partnership. To order telephone 503-244-5211 or 1-800-282-7035 (toll free), or e-mail plabberton@orpartnership.org.

"Face it, Parents" is an Oregon Department of Human Services prevention campaign managed by Oregon Partnership with the goal of reducing underage drinking through parental education. In the first 16 months of the campaign young people around the state developed radio and TV public service announcements that received substantial airplay.